sandisk_inand_extreme_efd.jpgSandisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced it is working with key industry chipset vendors to help ensure a best-in-class user experience for mobile devices based on Microsoft Corp.'s upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

Companies such as Intel Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) are using SanDisk iNAND Extreme™ embedded flash memory with some of their top Windows 8 hardware development platforms. SanDisk is working with these companies to optimize its iNAND Extreme flash memory products with Windows 8-based tablet and mobile designs.

"SanDisk is known for its deep technical expertise and has strong relationships with all major mobile handset and tablet manufacturers, mobile chipset vendors, operating system developers and standardization bodies," said Dan Inbar, SanDisk senior vice president and general manager, OEM. "Because of the effort we make to continually drive innovation and foster stronger relationships with industry partners, we're well positioned to extend our status as a leading provider of storage solutions to Windows 8-based systems."

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adata_xpg_sx900_ssd.pngADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash storage application products, today announced the launch of a complete lineup of expanded capacity solid state drives. The new SSD range includes the XPG SX900, the Premier Pro SP900, and the Premier SP800, all of which use new optimized firmware to utilize greater storage capacity of the NAND Flash components. The XPG SX900 is a groundbreaking 512GB capacity solid state drive utilizing the SandForce 2281 controller, making it a milestone in ADATA’s history of NAND Flash based products. All of the drives being launched use superior NAND Flash for improved stability and performance.

The XPG (Xtreme Performance Gear) family of products has been expanded to include solid state drives, and the SX900 is a perfect match for the performance requirements of this elite group. Its maximum sequential read and write speeds are 550/530 MB per second, with maximum random 4k write speeds as high as 85,000 IOPS. With capacities of 64, 128, 256, and 512GB, the SX900 is poised to take its place as a market and performance leader.

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Power Quotient International (PQI), a member of the Foxlink Group, successfully unveiled the Wi-Fi enabled PQI Air Drive during the 2012 International CES to much fanfare. The product was well-received and widely praised, and is officially available for purchase in countries around the world beginning today.

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The PQI Air Drive is rooted in the concept of sharing and emphasizes a patented small, lightweight circuit design and the incorporation of the latest Wi-Fi technology. It offers a solution for users of smart phones, tablets, and other handheld devices who often run into the problem of limited memory expansion when the built-in memory becomes inadequate. The PQI Air Drive presents a slew of industry breakthroughs in terms of user friendliness by achieving major reductions in both volume and weight. The unique and elegantly designed body is as small as a credit card and only 8 mm thick, enabling it to easily slide into a shirt pocket. Its finely brushed metal shell with a hairline finish is available in both iron grey and jet black, giving the product a glossy and transparent look of sophisticated luxury that also keeps it free of fingerprints and smudges. The entire device weighs only 55 grams, making it the lightest and most portable model in the industry. In addition, the friendly SD card slot supports plug and play. Consumers can tailor the device’s capacity as needed including instant expansion up to 32GB SDHC. When the power is turned on, a green power indicator light and a blue Wi-Fi indicator light flash at the same time to clearly indicate disk activity. Instant two-way file transfer and sharing with friends have never been easier.

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owc_mercury_ssd_line.pngOther World Computing announced today it has released a new firmware version—MP5.0.1—to deliver optimum performance and stability from its industry-leading, SandForce Driven Mercury Solid State Drive line when installed in the latest Macs and PCs. The GUI driven, Mac experience friendly and bootable updater for Solid State Drives is freely available from OWC for use exclusively with OWC Mercury Extreme Pro, Mercury Electra, and Mercury Aura Pro SSD models.

OWC’s proprietary firmware updater, now available with support for all of Apple’s latest Mac models, as well as nearly all prior machines, eliminates the need for a PC, ownership of Windows or other operating system, or the creation of a specially designated drive partition that many SSD updaters have required. Mac users only need to download the updater from OWC’s site, obtain and burn a DVD, and then boot from that DVD to launch an easy to use, point and click GUI for installing the latest firmware revision to their OWC Mercury SSD. OWC’s Mac-friendly firmware updater continues OWC’s unmatched firmware update support for Mac users of SandForce-based SSDs. OWC also provides update support for PCs running the Windows or Linux OS.

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Toshiba Corporation today announced breakthroughs in NAND flash that secure major advances in chip density and performance. In the 19 nanometer (nm) generation, Toshiba has developed a 3-bit-per-cell 128 gigabit (Gb) chip with the world's smallest die size—170mm2—and fastest write speed—18MB/s of any 3-bit-per-cell device. The chip entered mass production earlier this month and Toshiba and its technology partner, SanDisk, unveiled its key technology advances at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, California on Feb 22 (local time).

Manufacturers of NAND flash memories must respond to demand for higher densities at competitive costs for such applications as USB memories and memory cards. Toshiba has achieved both through the application of its innovative technologies.

The new 3-bit-per-cell 19nm generation device uses the three-step programming algorithm and air-gap technology for transistors, effectively reducing coupling between memory cells down to 5%, achieving a write speed performance of 18MB/s. In three-step writing technology, it writes through rough distribution in the second step, and tightens as well-defined distribution at the third.

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